SermonHeavenly Love Fulfills Our Faith
An all-creatures Bible Message

Heavenly Love Fulfills Our Faith
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
30 August 2015
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Psalm 45:1-9
Matthew 22:37-40
Mark 7:1-23
James 1:17-27

Heavenly love fulfills our faith in God, which is how Jesus makes faith simple, as we talked about last week.
 
Just think about everything we do…are not the things we do in the heavenly will of God also based on love and, conversely, don’t our sins reflect our lack of true heavenly love?
 
This is what we are told in Matthew 22:37-40…

37. And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 
 
38. "This is the great and foremost commandment.
 
39. "The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 
 
40. "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
NASB

This means that everything here on earth can be brought into God’s heavenly will, because true heavenly love fulfills our faith and everything written in the Bible.
 
Psalm 45:1-9 expresses this heavenly love in an Old Testament manner.

1. My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

In this psalm, Bible scholars and translators have concluded that the King is God, and the psalmist indicates that he is ready to speak or write whatever the Lord puts upon his heart.
 
But as we read on, we see that there is a lot of comparison to human beings, or a specific human being such as King David or his son Solomon, whom we know were far from being perfect.

2. Thou art fairer than the sons of men;
Grace is poured upon Thy lips;
Therefore God has blessed Thee forever.
 
3. Gird Thy sword on
Thy thigh, O Mighty One,
In Thy splendor and Thy majesty!

The word of God is like a sword that can penetrate our heart and soul, because we know that there is no heavenly love in bringing about bloodshed.

4. And in Thy majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
Let Thy right hand teach Thee awesome things.

This implies that the sword of righteousness (God’s word) is in the right hand of God, and from it He learns the true intent of the human heart, whether good or bad.

5. Thine arrows are sharp;
The peoples fall under Thee;
Thine arrows are in the heart of the King's enemies.

If we are talking about the fact that heavenly love fulfills our faith, then these arrows must be spiritual arrows that represent the convicting word of God that penetrates the heart of everyone who works against the heavenly will of God.

6. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Thy kingdom.
 
7. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee
With the oil of joy above Thy fellows.

This is further proof that God has always wanted us to live in His heavenly will and help free creation from its present corruption and not contribute to it as most people are doing today, particularly through the atrocities that are inflicted upon billions of animals every year.
 
But then the psalmist concludes with human luxuries that are not a part of heavenly love.

8. All Thy garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made Thee glad.
 
9. Kings' daughters are among Thy noble ladies;
At Thy right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
NASB

When we try to compare God’s magnificence to the human things He created, we take away from the glory that is God.
 
God is above these things.
 
We need to focus upon the fact that heavenly love fulfills our faith and will heal this world.
 
We are to be the agents of this heavenly love here on earth.
 
In our discussion on heavenly love fulfills our faith, let’s now look at Mark 7:1-23, and see the comparison between how the Pharisees make things complicated and how Jesus makes faith simple.

1. And the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together around Him when they had come from Jerusalem,
 
2. and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews [that follow the letter of the Law] do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders;

The Pharisees are not upset about the lack of hand washing because it is not sanitary, but because they see them as breaking the Law.

4. and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.)
 
5. And the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him [Jesus], "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?"

There is no heavenly love in the Pharisees’ and scribes’ question; they are just asking as a way of finding fault.
 
Note how Jesus responds.

6 And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
'This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
 
7. 'But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'

Jesus is saying that the portion of the Law that they are referring to is not from God, but was composed by other human beings, the elders who started this tradition.
 
This means that it has nothing to do with their faith.
 
And Jesus continues…

8. "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." 

9. He was also saying to them, "You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.

This is the same problem that we see coming from many religious leaders and clergy today; they put tradition and their lifestyle ahead of true heavenly love and faith.

10. "For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death'; 
 
11. but you say,' If a man says to his father or his mother, anything of mine you might have been helped by is Corban (that is to say, given to God),'
 
12. you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; 
 
13. thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that."

In other words, Jesus is telling these Pharisees and religious leaders that they put their lifestyle ahead of the true heavenly love and compassion that God wanted us to live by since He created the heavens and the earth.
 
And this includes scapegoating animals in their sacrificial religious tradition, and their killing and eating animals instead of eating the plant foods that God created for us to eat.
 
Instead of bringing the world heavenly love and life, they are bringing them only pain, suffering, and death.

14. And after He called the multitude to Him again, He began saying to them, "Listen to Me, all of you, and understand:
 
15. there is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.

In other words, if we look at these verses today with what we know about health, we may get physically sick from eating something, but we will not be spiritually ill.
 
However, if we say or do something that is evil, then we defile ourselves, because such acts are counter to heavenly love.

16. ["If any man has ears to hear, let him hear."]
 
17. And when leaving the multitude, He had entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable.
 
18. And He said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him;
 
19. because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.)

This is also confirming that we are talking about spiritual things and not physical things, as were the Pharisees.

20. And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.
 
21. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
 
22. deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.
 
23. "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."
NASB

God gave each and every one of us the free will choice to decide whether we are going to live in the heavenly will of God and allow His heavenly love to guide us, or whether we choose to live in this corrupt world and follow its evil ways.
 
The choice is ours, and we hope and pray that we all choose to live in the heavenly will of God.
 
In James 1:17-27, we are given an excellent example of how heavenly love fulfills our faith and can heal the corruption and evil in this world and give us true peace, just as Jesus taught us.

17. Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.

Listen carefully to this verse: “every good thing and every perfect gift” comes from our heavenly Father; thus, all the bad and corrupted things must be of this earth, and not caused by God.
 
The corrupt and evil things of this world are from the devil and the people who follow him, which unfortunately is the majority of the people in the world.

18. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures.

This confirms that God’s creation intent is for a perfect world as it is in heaven.
 
God does not want any human or animal to be subject to the human caused pain, suffering, and death that is so prevalent in this world.
 
He wants us to live in the heavenly will of God, where there is no pain or mourning or death; He wants us to have true peace.
 
And humans will never have this until they stop killing and eating animal products; we are to return to the plant food diet that God created for us in Eden.

19. This you know, my beloved brethren. But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;
 
20. for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

Actually, our anger and violence only achieves the evilness of the devil, and can never lead to peace.
 
We need to remember that heavenly love fulfills our faith, and everything else destroys our faith and our relationship with God.

21. Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

This is how heavenly love fulfills our faith.
 
If we live in the heavenly will of God, we will overflow with His heavenly love.
 
And remember that faith is an action word.
 
In other words we must act upon what we say we believe.

22. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
 
23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
 
24. for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

This is the kind of physical and spiritual self-analysis we must constantly do; we must always ask ourselves if everything we are about to do and say is in the heavenly will of God, and when it is, we must be willing to follow through and do or say it.

25. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.

The perfect law is what is in heaven, and not the law in the Bible, which can save no one.

26. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.

Unfortunately, this is a problem we encounter with most people who claim to be religious and we are not to follow their corrupt ways, which are evident in the death they eat and wear.

27. This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
NASB

In other words we are to live in the heavenly will of God, for heavenly love fulfills our faith, and we are to act upon this love in everything we do and say.
 
Amen.

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